Union Labels

[Rooster]

Thanks Baron, super information! Let's make this a sticky, it's too important to let slipp off the end.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

\
So those labels I see that look like 1940 are actually 1949 then? And therefore the garment was made anytime between those dates,...'49 and '68.

That's right. Though there's inevitable overlap. So, things from the mid 70s might still have the '49 tag, and something from 1940 might still have the 36 tags. If the garment house still had some labels lying around they might just chuck an older version into a suit that should've got the newer version.

bk

 

[Laughing Magpie]

I have an opera coat I just got and I thought it was from the '40s, but the NRA is mentioned on the other side of the union tag - though the graphic is different from the one shown above:

So, this would place the coat in the '33-'36 range too?

Jen

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I have an opera coat I just got and I thought it was from the '40s, but the NRA is mentioned on the other side of the union tag - though the graphic is different from the one shown above:



So, this would place the coat in the '33-'36 range too?

Jen

National Recovery Board? Was this perhaps the Canadian version of the NRA? Seeing that you are from Canada, and that the label is entirely different. I think a google search is in order.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Now I just found this,...

http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/content/view/379/121/

Which seems to obfuscate the issue even more, but paradoxically, there is a good resource for identifying labels here.

 

[Laughing Magpie]

Oops: National Recovery "Act" vs National Recovery "Board". For some reason I was thinking they were the same entity.

Does look like the "NRB" was on the labels later, according to the VFG website.

Jen

 

[Baron Kurtz]

interesting. Never seen that one before. Maybe it wasn't used in menswear?

bk

 

[Laughing Magpie]

My label is on a woman's opera coat, so it may well not have been used on men's wear.

Jen

 

[exquisitebones]

union made tags?

I searched. could not find the info i need.

how long were union tags made? like when did they stop going on clothing?
ILGWU specifically?
am I totally being dumb here?

i have had a slip that i have worn forever and a day, and i was just looking at it to check the size, because it is getttign to big on me, and it had a old looking tag..
but its 100% nylon? so it cant be that old right?

HELP!

 

[jitterbugdoll]

Information on dating this label can be found here: http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/content/view/273/121/

DuPont began commercial production of nylon in 1939, though during WWII all production was allocated for military use. It became commonly used in clothing in the 1950s.

 

[exquisitebones]

thanks, JBD mine is post 55 cos it has the "afl cio" on it
but i cant tell when its from, cos those are all in blue print.
and then in the 70s they changed to red, white and blue.

mine is in black print ? [huh]
maybe its form the early 1990s?

 

[Lady Day]

**moved thread**

Think you can get good help from the fine gentlemen in this forum

LD

 

[exquisitebones]

Think you can get good help from the fine gentlemen in this forum

LD

now iam never gonna remember to check this thread
i only hang out in the powder room

i hate when threads get moved out ofthere ...

 

[Miss Neecerie]

now iam never gonna remember to check this thread
i only hang out in the powder room

i hate when threads get moved out ofthere ...

While in the thread...go up to the top where it says "thread tools and pick "subscribe to this thread' from the pull down menu...then it will let you choose to have an email sent when people answer....and it will be in your 'subscribed threads' area as well..

Hope this helps

 

[Marc Chevalier]

DuPont began commercial production of nylon in 1939, ...

True, although DuPont was treating clothing with "waterproofing agents" as early as 1934:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

but that early Dupont stuff was just rubberized, right?

bk

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

There's also this.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=17703

Explains a bit about union labels on men's wear. Lady's wear labels are apparently different?

 

[Viviene]

If you check this link it is to ikwewe's union label guide. She has done extensive research on the union labels and has set up this guide. I hope this helps you.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Clothing-Labels-Union-Labels-ILGWU-Labels_W0QQugidZ10000000003230636

And union labels are still being used when items are made by union workers. Mystic Bay bathing suits which are made by Finalist are union made in Port Jervis, NY.

 

[ikwewe]

I am working on a Guide to ACWA and UGWA labels. So far, I have most of the union timelines, but only a few of the labels. I feel like I stumbled into a gold mine here!

I would love to be able to use some of the pix and info posted here. You can see my eBay Guide here:

http://tinyurl.com/26fahq

I want to make it as comprehensive as possible. These labels seem to resist being organized into chronolological order, but one clue is whether AFL is at the top of the label or not, then, when AFL-CIO is added, then CLC.

If you would like to share your info with my readers, I would of course give credit to whoever assists and provides images. So far, my guides have been collective efforts, and much better for it.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

You can use my photo if you like. It is a good example if I dare say so myself.